Breaking Patents — A Futile Response to the Global Pandemic That Benefits Businesses, Not People

In view of the coronavirus pandemic, many countries and NGOs have suggested the use of compulsory licensing to increase the supply of coronavirus vaccines. Although such suggestions are no doubt well-intended, it is questionable whether such an approach is the…
TrustTalk, a sister blog by IPEG consultant Severin de Wit, as well as the TrustTalk podcast cover all aspects of trust. As of December 1, 2020, IPEG will keep its readers and followers updated on trust aspects that IPR practitioners…
Any business professor will tell you that the value of companies has been shifting markedly from tangible assets, “bricks and mortar”, to intangible assets like intellectual property (IP) in recent years. IP in its various forms is increasingly used as…
A workshop Trade Secrets Deep Dive will be held on Friday September 7 in Eindhoven (High Tech Campus). Speakers from private practice and industry (see below) will cover all aspects of trade secrets, by many considered the most important intellectual…
Recently the Dutch financial newspaper “Het Financiele Dagblad” spent an article (” (“spin-offs rely on deep pockets University holding“) on how (un)successful Dutch universities have been with their academic spin-offs, how many have been able to actually provide enough starting…
Most innovative businesses provide rewards and some form of recognition to inventors. There are two main reasons for having a reward and recognition program in place for inventors. Firstly in certain jurisdictions there are legal requirements to take into consideration,…
The International Licensing Platform Vegetable Association (ILP) was founded on 13 November 2014 with the aim of improving the worldwide access to and use of plant traits. The platform applies exclusively to vegetable varieties. On the same day, the background…
How Nokia’s smartphone software strategy failed and ultimately killed the brand. Much has been written about the ups and downs of the cellular / mobile phone industry over the past 25 years, and particularly the smartphone industry in more recent…
IP-centric businesses whose shares trade on the public markets come in many shapes and sizes — some are better suited for return than others. Many of the most interesting IP-rich businesses, from an investor perspective, are publicly traded, thinly capitalized companies with experienced management.…
Technology transfer of new ideas and innovation from universities and research institutes into society is a major source of Europe’s “knowledge economy”. However, EU firms are struggling to better exploit public-funded research (like those from universities) and transform their findings…
In the 2014, volume 3 edition of the “Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Management” an article is published by IPEG’s managing partner, Severin de Wit, called “Challenges in Public and Private Domains will shape the Future of Intellectual Property“.…
By naming former Google IP Chief Michelle Lee Deputy Director the Obama administration has tipped the patent scales in favor of tech businesses with special interests. In the absence of a named Director for over a year, naming Michelle Lee…
Over the last couple of years we witnessed an increasing interest in patent assets as the IP asset class and what it means for innovation, for R&D, for IP professionals and the financial sector but also for those that treat…
Last week Douglas Engelbart died, 88 years old, the American who invented the computer mouse, or “X ,Y position indicator for a display system” as it was called in his 1970 patent. Like many other famous inventors he did not…
To invent means to produce or contrive something previously unknown by the use of ingenuity or imagination. An inventor is therefore someone who invents, someone who devises some new process, appliance, machine, or article. When a new product appears, the…